“Wins” and “Worries”

30 Dec “Wins” and “Worries”

“I need your help” is one of the greatest phrases in English language. It enlists others in doing good and serving others. And UFI needs your help right now.

Wherever you live, please click here to sign the petition in support of Natural Marriage. Signing this petition shows your support for Utah’s Marriage Amendment which was approved by 66% of voters, but was recently overturned by one federal judge. Because this overturn also threatens the Marriage Amendments of 28 other states, please share this petition with everyone you know who cares about the vital importance of marriage between a man and a woman.

Ten days ago I asked our friends to share of their means with a $20.14 donation to help us kick the next year off with a solid financial foundation. I am sincerely grateful to all who responded. And to our remaining friends and family that didn’t, could you please take a moment to click here and add your contribution? Our goal is to enter the new year with $20,140.00 raised by Tuesday at midnight so we can stay in front of the issues that are now before us.

The funds you have shared in the past are precious, and with your help we have created an impressive set of accomplishments this past year.

The “wins” include:

• Increased involvement of young adults in pro-family/pro-life work: members of UFI’s International Voice for Youth (IVY) presenting at United Nations’ meetings; writing articles and blog posts, interning, researching, developing new formats for delivery of information, and engaging in public dialogues and debate.

• Success in opposing the advancement of non-discrimination laws in several municipalities, engaging in the roll-out of a major campaign to educate citizens on the dangers of non-discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation & gender identity/expression.

• United Families state chapters actively engaged on behalf of families in their state’s legislative efforts, including helping with a signature drive in California to ensure that students have a right to privacy while using showers and bathrooms at school.

• A ramped up presence for our educational tools: UFI’s website, World Family News and for our newest addition to the online community: WorldFamilyForum.com Watch also for the soon-to-be-released Issues Guide – “Divorce: 100 Reasons Not to!”

• At the World Congress of Families in Sydney, Australia, UFI presented on how harnessing Family Capitol effectively addresses the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. We continue to engage in preparations for the celebration of the International Year of the Family 2014 as well.

• Engaged with a more united and educated international pro-family/pro-life community who work effectively to keep dangerous language and public policy from getting a foothold in international law.

• Overturn of Utah’s Marriage Amendment and the accompanying threat to Marriage Amendments of other states. Utah is now becoming Ground Zero in the same-sex marriage and non-discrimination battle, and rulings being written in this state have the potential to influence legislation in other states.

• Activities at the UN continue to threaten the stability of the family and society as a whole including the promotion of things like “sexual rights” and “erotic Justice.” With the current U.S. administration and composition of U.S. Congress there will be a continuing push to ratify some dangerous UN treaties: Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

• Abortion and population control advocates continue to spread misinformation and lies about needing to spend billions to reduce population through “family planning” reproductive rights” and abortion; pushing access to abortion as a “human right;” and the need to legalize abortion in order to reduce the problem of maternal mortality — ignoring the fact that a demographic winter is one of the greatest challenges of this century.

We will continue to be a leading pro-family advocate on these issues both domestically and internationally — but our ability to do so effectively requires resources. As I explained last week, UFI is primarily a volunteer organization, but it does take money for us to finance our numerous projects, including our internet presence, websites, email alerts, and travel expenses.

We are all engaged in this work because of our love for the family and commitment to preserving and blessing this most fundamental unit of society. There are many people making significant sacrifices for this cause and hope you will join us by contributing a very modest amount of what God has blessed you with in order to further this work. 2014 is going to be a pivotal year in the cause of the family. We need your help to make this a year of victories.